Elections in Swaziland 2018

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The 2018 elections in Swaziland took place on August 18, 2018 and September 21, 2018 in the Kingdom of Swaziland . 59 members of the House of Assembly ("Assembly House"), the lower house of the Swaziland parliament, and local representatives were elected. Like the previous elections in Swaziland, the elections were controversial because parties were not allowed to participate. The last elections took place in 2013 .

Starting position

King Mswati III rules as absolute ruler. The House of Assembly has only limited rights. The prime minister is appointed by the king, who predominantly governs by means of decrees . The status of political parties in Swaziland is unclear; Candidates were only allowed to apply as independents . The last parliamentary election took place in 2013, the legislative period lasted five years as usual. The elections were held in accordance with the 2005 constitution .

Voters could originally register between May 13 and June 17, 2018. The minimum age was 18 years. According to the electoral commission, 526,073 people entitled to vote - allegedly around 87 percent of those over the age of 18 - were registered by the deadline. Nevertheless, the deadline was extended by eleven days. In 2013, according to the electoral commission, 69 percent of those eligible to vote had registered. The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) called on voters to boycott the election. Calls for boycotts also came from several localities whose residents felt disadvantaged by the redesign of constituencies. According to an opposition-run website, impoverished residents were given food for free when they registered. The Swazi Democratic Party (SWADEPA) called the court in July 2018 to get parties to participate. After they had been turned away for formal furious reasons, a hearing was held in August.

Since 2018, Swaziland has for the first time had 59 constituencies instead of 55 ( Tinkhundla, Singular Inkhundla ), 15 in Hhohho , 11 in Lubombo , 18 in Manzini and 15 in Shiselweni . They are divided into over 300 Chiefdoms ( Imiphakatsi; Singular Umphakatsi ), most of which are assigned to local traditional rulers. The cities of Manzini and Mbabane are divided into ten wards and 16 zones, respectively, which are included in the number of chiefdoms . In addition to the parliamentarians, the Constituency Headman ( Indvuna; about: "constituency chairman ") and the Constituency Executive Committee ( Bucopho; about: "constituency board") were elected.

procedure

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC, for example: " Election and Boundaries Commission ") has been responsible for the elections since 2008 . The nominations for the area code in the Chiefdoms took place on July 28 and 29, 2018 . For each Chiefdom , three to 20 candidates were nominated at a public meeting by pointing to them, then approving the nomination and finally at least ten people present speaking out in favor of the candidate. On August 14, there was a special voting for voters who could not attend the meetings, for example for people who are resident abroad.

In the primaries on August 18, 2018 each was Chiefdom each a candidate for the House of Assembly and the position of the Constituency Headman after the majority vote in a secret ballot determined. According to the constitution, the candidates were not allowed to appear as party politicians. The members of the Bucopho were already elected in the primaries. The primaries lasted from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The candidates for parliament and Indvuna who were successful in the primary were only allowed to start their election campaign after the primary. They were also allowed to address political issues.

On September 17th, voters could cast their vote for the primary elections in another special voting . On Friday, September 21, 2018, the actual parliamentary elections and elections for Indvuna took place. Candidates were the winners of the primaries. The elections were also secret and lasted from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Only the candidate with the highest number of votes within the Inkhundla received a seat in the House of Assembly. In addition, up to ten members were appointed by the king. The Attorney-General also received a constitutional mandate.

Several international delegations participated as election observers attended, including a delegation from the African Union , led by former President of Seychelles , James Michel was headed.

Results

156,983 voters took part in the first round, significantly fewer than in the last two elections.

In the second round of elections, two ministers lost their parliamentary seats and, consequently, their cabinet posts.

According to Swazi Media Commentary , not all results were published in January 2019 .

reception

On the day after the second round, the AU's observer commission demanded that political parties be allowed to take part in the votes and that campaigning could also be carried out before the second round.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bonisile Makhubu: Elections registrations start tomorrow. times.co.sz, May 12, 2018, accessed June 23, 2018
  2. ↑ Swaziland; Swazi king extends voter registration. allafrica.com, June 20, 2018, accessed June 20, 2018
  3. ^ ICP: Communist party of Swaziland calls for a boycott in the 2018 tinkhundla elections. icp.sol.tr (English), accessed on June 21, 2018
  4. ↑ a b Swaziland: Chorus against Swazi election process grows. swazimedia.blogspot.com of June 17, 2018 (English), accessed June 20, 2018
  5. ↑ Swazi political party 'challenges electoral system in court'. news24.com from July 21, 2018, accessed on July 24, 2018
  6. ↑ Carien du Plessis: Eswatini's tinkhundla-based electoral system to be tested in potentially groundbreaking court case. Daily Maverick, August 19, 2018, accessed August 23, 2018
  7. ↑ a b c Notes from the government on the 2008 elections (English, PDF; 257 kB), accessed on June 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Election dates revealed. times.co.sz, accessed June 20, 2018
  9. ↑ Government website on the nomination process ( Memento of September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Swaziland: Swazi primary elections shambles at allafrica.com on August 25, 2013 (English, archive version ).
  11. ↑ What are the guidelines for canvassing for votes? elections.org.sz, accessed June 20, 2018
  12. ↑ Eswatini elections and the tomfoolery of observer missions. Daily Maverick, September 26, 2018, accessed September 26, 2018
  13. ↑ Swaziland heading for lowest election turnout as ordinary people support democratic change. Swazi Media Commentary at allafrica.com on September 17, 2018 (English), accessed on September 24, 2018
  14. ^ Giants crash out of 2018 elections. times.co.sz, September 23, 2018, accessed September 23, 2018
  15. ↑ King Mswati in complete control as another year of human rights struggle ends in Swaziland. swazimedia.blogspot.com of January 8, 2019 (English), accessed on January 13, 2019
  16. ↑ AU calls for Eswatini to end ban on political parties. ewn.co.za on September 22, 2018, accessed on September 23, 2018